What a Beast (Please Vote with Your Monthly Tickets)

He was definitely going.

Whatever else, it was a chance to expand his market.

Before making the call, he took out the Magic Book and started learning Cantonese.

There were plenty of people from Hong Kong and Guangdong in the production, both in front of and behind the camera.

After a few days of study, Shen Qi finally called them.

Hearing Shen Qi speak Cantonese that was a little halting but otherwise authentic, the people on the other end immediately took him more seriously.

When they heard he was currently working on two productions but would be in Hong Kong to film around New Year's Day as requested, they took him more seriously still.

Shen Qi hadn't lied, either.

Weren't The Return of the Condor Heroes and The Wrath of the Honorable two productions?

They gave him an email address.

They asked him to send three everyday photos and three production stills. The contract could be signed later.

Shen Qi arranged for someone to contact the production about his travel permit, and the other side would cooperate.

For now, the matter was settled.

Once November began, Shen Qi and Liu Yifei's scene finally went on the schedule.

It was a major scene, no question.

By then, Shen Qi and Liu Yifei had gotten fairly familiar with each other.

They saw each other around every day, after all.

Besides, Liu Yifei had reached out to help him and ended up falling into the water with him.

That almost counted as going through hardship together.

Liu Yifei's fight scenes in this drama were as graceful as a startled swan. The price was spending nearly every day suspended on wires.

After working with the props and stunt teams so much, she heard that Shen Qi had asked everyone to look after her.

Shu Chang had passed along the request, but the kindness behind it still meant a great deal.

The props team had even upgraded her harness, easing the persistent tension and ache in her neck.

To return the favor, whenever her mother, Liu Xiaoli, made food, she often brought Shen Qi a portion.

What Shen Qi got most often was egg tarts.

Could you imagine it?

Not only was the Little Dragon Maiden's mother not keeping a close watch on the Dragon Knight,

she was making the Dragon Knight egg tarts!

Even the director shook his head at the sight.

In the end, it came down to Shen Qi being dependable.

He never struck up conversations with actresses or female staff for no reason. He would rather chat with old men and women.

During Li Mingqi's few days on set, he followed the elderly actress around constantly and was reluctant to see her leave.

Then there was the time Shen Qi had saved Huang Xiaoming.

He had faced the danger of a spooked horse to save another actor. He might not have risked his life, but he had certainly taken a risk.

That counted for an extraordinary amount.

Liu Yifei's mother hadn't even been angry when Shen Qi pulled her daughter into the water. She believed he would reach out to help if Liu Yifei was ever in danger.

Of course, Liu Xiaoli thinking more highly of Shen Qi didn't mean she had let down her guard.

Her impression of him really was "an honest man of few words."

But appearances could be deceiving.

Who knew if his true nature was closer to "an older man who rarely tells the truth"?

Liu Xiaoli stayed nearby while they filmed this major scene.

Shen Qi finished two egg tarts and prepared to "take advantage" of her daughter.

Fuck!

He wanted to slap himself.

I really am a beast!

"Night exterior, episode six, scene forty-eight. Cameras and lighting ready. Liu Yifei, Shen Qi, get ready!"

Liu Yifei didn't need much preparation.

Ouyang Feng had struck her acupoints from a distance, leaving her flat on her back beneath a flowering tree. All she had to do was lie still.

Shen Qi's part was much harder.

Seventeen. Seventeen...

High school student. High school student...

Shen Qi had been expelled from school, though his reputation hadn't been dragged through the mud too badly.

Officially, at least, he had resigned of his own accord.

But that did nothing to stop the incident from becoming the nightmare of his life.

You could even say it had split his life in two and changed everything.

That was why Shen Qi felt so conflicted.

Yet that very conflict helped him portray Zhen Zhibing's struggle.

He saw the Little Dragon Maiden lying there.

She was the woman he dreamed of day and night.

But the rules of his order and his conscience told him he mustn't.

"Good! That part was excellent!"

Zhao Guangbin praised Shen Qi, and Yu Min nodded in agreement.

The production had cleared the set for this scene. Anyone not involved was forbidden from coming near.

Compared with the Carman Lee version, where a veil was placed over the Little Dragon Maiden's face before the man kissed her while holding her cheeks, plus a shot of him touching her thigh, this version of The Condor was almost unbelievably tame.

They couldn't help it. The actress was seventeen!

And because she was so young, Yu Min had cleared the set thoroughly to spare her embarrassment.

Everyone who had wanted to watch lost their chance.

At the director's call, Shen Qi stopped and waited for the camera position. When filming resumed, he walked forward.

His eyes were full of conflict.

He slowly crouched beside the Little Dragon Maiden.

He reached out and gently laid a hand on her face.

"Cut!"

The director called a halt the moment Shen Qi touched her.

"Sorry, sorry. His hand was a little cold."

Liu Yifei apologized at once.

Cold?

Shen Qi felt thoroughly wronged. Her face had seemed colder than his hand.

Girl, I'm a lecher!

And all you care about is whether my hand's cold?

"Shen Qi, rub your hands together! Warm them up!"

Yu Min couldn't do much about it.

Getting this far into the scene before a failed take was already pretty good.

"Okay, Director."

Shen Qi rubbed his palms together.

These were the hands that had killed Ji Wuming with a single strike.

Now he was using them to tame a dragon.

Shen Qi's hands weren't cold at all. They were even a little warm.

But Liu Yifei was still young, and acting out a scene like this was bound to make her nervous.

For now, all she could do was try to relax and keep perfectly still.

Filming soon resumed, and Shen Qi reached out with his wicked claws again.

The scales of reason gradually tipped toward desire.

The shadows slowly swallowed him.

"Guo'er..."

The Little Dragon Maiden's call briefly brought him back to his senses.

Unfortunately, only briefly.

Shen Qi reached toward the Little Dragon Maiden again...

The camera moved in for a tight close-up of his hand.

Only Shen Qi's hand and the Little Dragon Maiden's exquisite, flawless face appeared in the shot.

First came a light touch, then a caress...

The next tight close-up showed Shen Qi's sinful fingers undoing the Little Dragon Maiden's sash.

The final shot held on Shen Qi as he slowly leaned toward her...

Lotus blossoms drifted across the pond; the male toad wrapped his arms around the female toad's waist.

In the actual drama, the scene simply faded out there.

"Good, that's a wrap. Very nice. That part really worked."

Even Yu Min hadn't expected Shen Qi to do so well.

Intimate scenes filmed under so many eyes often had to be shot over and over.

It was rare to get one in a single take.

And the more failed takes there were, the worse the actors' performances tended to get.

If they couldn't finish that night, they would have to continue the next day.

"Whew..."

Shen Qi felt soaked with sweat, front and back.

Breaking into a sweat filming in this cold weather was miserable.

What is love, you ask? She'll tell you it starts at three years in prison.

There hadn't been a trace of romance in it.

To get the scene right, Shen Qi had channeled Granny Rong.

He had no desire to do it again.

The words he dreaded most now were the director calling for another take, or asking for one more just in case.

Luckily, Yu Min was delighted with the scene. He felt he had enough footage to edit it the way he wanted, so he spared Shen Qi and Liu Yifei any more trouble.

"Have some warm water. It's a disposable cup; nobody's used it."

After pouring some water for her daughter, Liu Xiaoli hadn't forgotten Shen Qi.

Seeing Shen Qi touch her daughter's face had made her somewhat uncomfortable, but she knew such things were unavoidable in this line of work.

Besides, if Shen Qi had wanted to take advantage, he could have made them shoot those moments again and again.

Passing a scene was hard. Botching a take was easy.

He could have rubbed her daughter's face raw.

Instead, Shen Qi had got it in one take.

Even the most self-absorbed person wouldn't think he had designs on her daughter after that.

"Thanks."

Shen Qi took the cup and drank the water.

You couldn't casually eat or drink things of uncertain origin on a set, but he'd already eaten plenty of Liu Xiaoli's egg tarts. Her food no longer fell into that category.

If she'd wanted to poison this lecher, she would have done it long ago.

"Filming went so smoothly today. Thank you!"

Liu Yifei came skipping over.

Clearly, having her face touched by someone she barely knew hadn't left her traumatized.

Her cheeks were even a little rosy.

"You played your part well."

Shen Qi felt oddly awkward. He kept feeling as though there was something on his hand and wanting to wipe it on his clothes.

"Me? I just lay there without moving. I barely did anything. You acted well, so stop being modest. Too much modesty is just another kind of pride."

Liu Yifei had heard the director and camera crew praising the scene.

They said Shen Qi's performance was subtle and layered.

It looked as though he really had learned something from Granny Rong.

If I'd known, I would've gone to her lessons too.

"You should put more thought into your acting instead of fooling around all day. Yesterday, you jumped out at me in that white outfit and nearly scared me to death."

Liu Xiaoli seized the chance to lecture her daughter.

During last night's shoot, she had dozed off briefly. When she opened her eyes, she saw a white figure with its claws raised, hopping toward her.

She had nearly died of fright on the spot.

"Kids are lively. She'll settle down when she's older."

Shen Qi tried to comfort her.

"You're the kid!"

Liu Yifei was speechless.

This guy had just "defiled" her, and now he was calling her a child.

How twisted could he get?

(We've reached twelfth place on the new book rankings. Thank you, everyone! If you have any monthly tickets left, please send them my way. Book reviews and chapter comments seem to help too, so feel free to post or leave a comment. Many thanks!)